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Communist University

The Communist University 2006

Saturday August 12 - Saturday August 19

Hosted by the Communist Party of Great Britain and co-sponsored by the Radical Anthropology Group, Critique, Iran Bulletin, Organistion of Revolutionary Workers of Iran (UK branch), Workers Left Unity - Iran and the Communist Party of Turkey

The CPGB's annual school - the Communist University - is different. It features sharp clashes of opinion on the revolutionary left, not dull lectures by left 'professors'. This educates the audience and the speakers. And who can doubt that the entire left needs some serious re-thinking? The CU features real debates - a genuine festival of ideas. We do not want another century like the last - we need clarity, unity and purpose. We need genuine communist politics again.

On the evening of August 12, we will be celebrating the end of our Summer Offensive fundraising drive with a meal in Raymont Hall. This is our last push to make our £30,000 target (tickets cost £25 or £50 solidarity price, cheaper tickets available for students and unemployed). All welcome to attend.

Our first weekend (August 12-13 2006) is jointly organised with the RAG under the banner of The Human Revolution and will look at the origins of human culture, language and solidarity.

Click here to download an A5 leaflet for the event. Please get in touch if you would like us to send you bulk copies.

Location
Raymont Hall, 63 Wickham Road, New Cross, London SE4 (15 min walk from New Cross tube station, 5 min walk from Brockley railway station - click here for a map)

Prices
full week, incl. self-catering accommodation in single ensuite rooms - £140 (£100 unwaged);
first weekend, incl. one night's accommodation - £35 (£20);
day - £10 (£5); session - £5 (£3).

To book your place
Send a cheque or postal order to BCM Box 928, London WC1N 3XX (please mark the back with 'CU 2006'. Alternatively, you can use your debit or credit card to pay via PayPal. Just click the button below - and make sure you tell that this payment is for CU 2006.

 


Full programme

  • please note that this timetable might be subject to change
  • download programme as RTF file
  • download programme as PDF file
Saturday August 12
 Morning  Afternoon


Registration from 12.30pm

1.45pm - 2pm
Aims and methods of Communist University 2006


2pm - 4.15pm
Engels and the first human revolution
Camilla Power Radical Anthropology Group


4.45pm - 7pm
Sex and the class struggle
Ana Lopez International Union of Sex Workers and GMB

On the evening of August 12, we will be celebrating the end of our Summer Offensive fundraising drive with a meal in Raymont Hall. This is our last push to make our £30,000 target (tickets cost £25 or £50 solidarity price, cheaper tickets available for students and unemployed). All welcome to attend.


Sunday August 13

 Morning  Afternoon


10am - 12.30pm
Noam Chomsky and the human revolution
Chris Knight radical anthropologist

click here to go to Chris' website, where you can find extracts and reviews of some of his books


2pm - 4.15pm
What robots can tell us about being human
Luc Steels RAG and robotics expert

4.45pm - 7pm
Why we need a second human revolution and how we get it
Jack Conrad CPGB


Monday August
14
 Morning  Afternoon


10am - 12.30pm
Socialism before, during and after Marx
Hillel Ticktin editor Critique

Click here to read some articles on Marx that have appeared in the Weekly Worker


2pm - 4.15pm
Capitalism, socialism and communism
Communist Party of Turkey


4.45pm - 7pm

Bertolt Brecht - the dilemma of a politically committed artist
Stephen Unwin
theatre director
Stephen Unwin is the author of 'A Guide to The Plays of Bertolt Brecht'
August 14 is the 50th anniversary of Brecht's death


Tuesday August 15

 Morning  Afternoon


10am - 12.30pm
Socialism in one country after another: really existing 'socialisms'
Hillel Ticktin editor Critique


2pm - 4.15pm
Republican socialism and fascism
Steve Freeman Revolutionary Democratic Group


4.45pm - 7pm

1917
Boris Kagarlitsky
Institute of Globalisation Studies

Click here for an interview with Boris Kagarlitsky that has appeared in the Weekly Worker


Wednesday August
16
 Morning  Afternoon


10am - 12.30pm
The overdue transition to communism
Hillel Ticktin editor Critique




2pm - 4.15pm
Venezuela - Bonapartism or Social Revolution
?
Nick Rogers CPGB
Paul Hampton Alliance for Workers' Liberty
Alan Woods Socialist Appeal (invited)

4.45pm - 7pm
The crisis in the Scottish Socialist Party and the lessons for Marxists in the UK
Sandy McBurney
SSP Workers' Unity Platform
click here to read articles on the SSP that have appeared in the Weekly Worker


Thursday August 17

 Morning  Afternoon


10am - 12.30pm
Revolutionary strategy and the failures of Trotskyism
Mike Macnair CPGB
click here to read Mike Macnair's recent series on the revolutionary party

 

 


2pm - 4.15pm
The John McDonnell campaign and the role of Marxists in the Labour party
Owen Jones Young Socialists, youth group of the Labour Representation Committee
click here to read an interview with Owen Jones

4.45pm - 7pm
How to save the planet: technological or revolutionary Prometheanism?
Derek Wall
Green Party
Jack Conrad
CPGB
click here to read an interview with Derek Wall
click here to read Jack Conrad's series on ecology


Friday August
18
 Morning  Afternoon


10am - 12.30pm
How do we win students to Marxism - economics or politics?
Daniel Randall Alliance for Workers' Liberty
David Isaacson CPGB

Click here to read an exchange between David Isaacson and the AWL's Sofie Buckland on the question


1.30pm - 3.30pm
Iran: the theocratic regime and the tasks of the solidarity movement
Mehdi Kia
Iran Bulletin and Organistion of Revolutionary Workers of Iran
click here for articles on Iran by Mehdi Kia

4.45pm - 7pm
Nationalities and the national question in the world today
Mehdi Kia Iran Bulletin and Organistion of Revolutionary Workers of Iran


Saturday August 19

 Morning  Afternoon


10am - 12.30pm
Communist Unity
Mark Fischer CPGB
Hillel Ticktin editor Critique
Organistion of Revolutionary Workers of Iran
Communist Party of Turkey
Revolutionary Democratic Group

note: shorter lunch break


1pm - 3pm

Marxism in Russia
Boris Kagarlitsky Institute of Globalisation Studies

3pm - 3.30pm
Evaulation of CU 2006


Previous universities

If you haven't been before, check out the timetables from previous years for a flavour of the event. Click on the links below for:

Communist University 2005

Communist University 2004

Communist University 2003

Communist University 2001

Communist University 2000

© communist party of great britain